It Takes a Heart

What are you willing to give up for God?

 IN order to walk in our full potential for the Lord, one must give Him all to receive all. This requires us to hold nothing back, trust Him and obey His will for our life. And what God wants most is that one thing we least want to give up. Everybody has something on their heart. Well God wants us to give Him our hearts; that very thing we don’t want to give up, the thing our heart is attached too. He wants us to be fully His, fully satisfied in Him. He asks us to give Him our heart because He wants to take us deeper into relationship with Him and share His heart with us. He wants to take us into to deeper trust, deeper spiritual living & being. He wants to bless us & do amazing things in our lives. It takes a heart.

God is the one who really knows our hearts. There is nothing we can hide from Him. Sometimes we are blind to the truth in our heart but God desires truth in our innermost parts. "The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart, I test the inner most parts of a man. And I will give to each person according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds” Jeremiah 17:9-10. “The righteous God tests hearts and minds” Psalms 7:9. “O LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously, who tests the heart and mind” Jeremiah 11:20.

God wants to be our treasure and reward. That which satisfies. We are called to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” Mark 12:30, Deut 6:5. This is for our best interest! This isn’t ego, its about Him being able to give us the best life possible. He doesn’t want anything to come before Him. He wants us to seek Him first with our everything. So we have to really look at our hearts. We have to choose to turn it to the Lord. We have to circumcise our hearts for God. It takes heart.

“Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life” Proverbs 4:23. “He that trust in his own heart is a fool: but he who walks in godly counsel, he shall be delivered” Proverbs 28:26. “the inner man (or mind) and the heart are mysterious (deep, or unsearchable)” Psalm 64:6. “For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of the heart brings forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things” Matthew 12:34-5. “Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who sees us? and who knows us?“ Isaiah 29:15. “The intentions of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out” proverbs 20:5.

Everyday God is seeking your heart. He wants it. He needs you to give it to Him in order for you to be effective for His kingdom. He wants to enter into yada – a deep relationship with you. He wants to know what inspires you, what excites you, what makes you happy. He wants to hear about what made you sad and what hurts and what your hopes and dreams are. He will soften your heart and give you a heart of flesh. He wants you to trust in Him. He wants you to do what He asks and obey His calling in your life. He wants to align your heart with His heart. He wants all that you do and are to be good and for Him. He wants to bring you into your identity, purpose and destiny. It takes a heart.

“Trust in Him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us“ Psalm 62:8. “Arise, cry out, pour out your heart like water in the presence of the Lord” Lamentations 2:19.

He is worthy of our hearts. What we give our heart to is what we are choosing to worship or declare is the most valuable. He wants us to have the most valuable thing ever – His heart! Whatever the thing on your heart is isn’t evil but if you allow it to rule your heart it becomes an idol and stumbling block to you. It is not money that is evil, it is the love of money that is evil. If there is something that takes up all your time or thoughts or leads you to disobey God than God isn’t where He needs to be on your heart throne and you are enslaved to something else.

“The love of money is a source of all kinds of evil. Some have been so eager to have it that they have wandered away from the faith & have broken their hearts with many sorrows” 1 Tim 6:10. “although they knew God, they neither glorified Him as God nor gave thanks to Him but they became futile in their thinking & darkened in their foolish hearts” Romans 1:21. “But the worries of this life, the deception of wealth & the desire for other things come in & choke the word & it becomes unfruitful” Mark 4:19. “for a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions." Luke 12:15.

“even if riches increase, do not set your heart upon them” psalm 62:10. “Present your body as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect” Romans 12:1-2. “Do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore, whoever chooses to be a friend of the world renders himself an enemy of God” James 4:4.

“It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery” Galatians 5:1. “if the Son sets you free, you are free indeed” John 8:36. “For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" Romans 8:15. “thanks be to God that though you were slaves of sin, you became obedient from the heart to the gospel of Christ and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness….But now having been freed from sin and enslaved to God, you derive your benefit, resulting in sanctification, and the outcome, eternal life. For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord ” Romans 6:17,22-23.

Satan is less than God and does not know our hearts and mind like God does. But has observed us and learns what our weaknesses are and the things on our heart. He comes to tempt us. He even came and tempted Jesus. Now in order to be tempted it has to be with something desirable to the person. Satan will go straight for the heart because He wants to get you to give obedience to something other than God. He will encourage us to serve ourselves and not God. But if we do that then we set ourselves against God.

“no man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other” Matthew 6:24. “Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. for all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever“ 1 John 2:15-17. “Now set your heart and your soul to seek the LORD your God...know and serve Him wholeheartedly and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches every heart and understands the intention of every thought. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you” 1 Chr 22:19,28:9.

When we give allegiance to something other than God it breaks His heart. The Lord knows that we struggle with this, that we struggle against the flesh. And He knows there is an enemy out there trying to destroy our relationship with Him, that we struggle against dark forces. God asks the tough stuff from us because the reward – life with Him – is the good stuff and worth it. God is for us and that means that the enemy is a defeated foe! God will be patient. He will judge our hearts. He will forgive our sin and He will direct our hearts.

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” 2 Peter 3:9. “The Lord said in His heart, ‘Never again will I curse the ground because of man, even though every inclination of his heart is evil from his youth. And never again will I destroy all living creatures as I have done” Genesis 8:21. “The place I made a waste land and killed & brought my wrath in my anger because the people turned their hearts away from me, I will bring health & healing. I will restore their fortunes and pardon their sin because they will turn back to me...I will give them one heart and one way, so that they will always fear Me for their own good and for the good of their children after them. I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me. Yes, I will rejoice in doing them good, & I will faithfully plant them in this land with all My heart and soul” Jeremiah 33:3, 32:40-42. “May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ” 2 Thess 3:5. “The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts & the hearts of your seed, & you will love Him with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live” Deut 30:6.

If you hold onto the things that have captured your heart more than God you will lose your life! God wants us to have true life, eternal in Christ with Him! God wants us to have true abundance, spiritual things that have more value than worldly things. It takes giving a heart like Jesus gave His heart.

“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” Col 3:2. “Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame, those whose minds are set on earthly things” Philippians 3:19.“Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 10:39, “whoever clings to his life will lose it, but if you give it up you will find it“ Matthew 16:25. John 12:25, 13:38, Mark 8:35, Luke 9:24, 17:33.

By grace we are saved through our faith in Jesus our Lord and savior. He gave all His heart to His Father for the joy set before Him – loving and saving us & obeying and glorifying His Father. We are called to walk as Jesus walked. The Lord wants us to be transformed into the image of His son. He wants us to be holy, set apart from the world, desiring the things only God can provide and denying the things of the world. We are called to imitate Christ, be Christ like in conduct and character. Jesus prioritized His relationship with His Heavenly Father. His heavenly Father was first in His heart & so Jesus gave his heart.

“But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do. Since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy ” 1 Peter 1:15. “keep oneself from being polluted by the world” James 1:27. “We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as he is pure. Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well“ 1 John 3:3.“Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God” 2 cor 7:1. “Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:8.

“But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” 1 John 1:7. “But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him: whoever says he abides in Jesus ought to walk in the same way in which he walked” 1 John 2:6. ‘In proclaiming Jesus as Christ, let every man be admonished and taught in all wisdom, so that he may be presented complete in Christ...In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Because you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith” Col 1:28, 2:3,6.

Our walk in Christ is about Gog getting our hearts. He has intention and purpose int coming after your heart. And in order for him to get to it we have to let go of what is blocking Him. Like a heart with high cholesterol, the blood is being blocked. We need to start eating right. We need to start eating the word of God to help unblock our heart and connect heart to heart with God.

“Your words were found and I ate them, And Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart; For I have been called by Your name, O LORD God of hosts.” Jeremiah 15:16. “I have not departed from the command of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread.” Job 23;12. “Do no be rebellious, Open your mouth and eat what I give you“ Ezekiel 2:8.

“Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, My Father gives you the true bread out of heaven. “For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world. “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. “All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out. “For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I lose nothing, but raise it up on the last day. ”it is written in the prophets, ‘AND THEY SHALL ALL BE TAUGHT OF GOD.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father, comes to Me. “I am the bread of life. “Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. “This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread also which I will give for the life of the world is My flesh. “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. “For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink. “He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. “As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also will live because of Me. “This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate and died; he who eats this bread will live forever.” John 6:32-58.

The very thing that has your heart is the very thing God has to take away from you to get your heart. And God will do what he has to do to get your heart. Because he loves you. He is a jealous God and wants all of you and he wants our hearts to understand that we are blessed to be loved jealously like this.

“Or do you think the Scripture speaks to no purpose and in vain saying ‘He jealously desires the spirit which he has made to dwell in us’?’ James 4:5. “The Lord is a jealous God, There is no other like Him” Joshua 24:19, Nahum 1:2, Deut 6:15, Ex 34:14.

Remember that when God has all of you, He will provide for all your needs! He will give you enough and more than enough! When we set our hearts on Him and His kingdom and value His world over this world, we will find ourselves satisfied always, our cup overflowing always, Him richly supplying always, blessing and giving always. Let Him give you all the abundance instead of trying to take it in your own power. Let him decide what is worthwhile instead of staying stuck in your own thinking of what is valuable. God wants to be first. Let him and let Him rock your world! This is what it means to seek God with all of your heart and soul, it means to give Him all of your heart and soul.

“Call upon me, come and pray to me and I will listen to you. When you seek me with all of your heart, I will be found by you and I will restore all of your fortunes” Jeremiah 29:12. “humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time” 1 Peter 5:6. “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.” James 4:10. “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” Matthew 23:12. “Behold, God is exalted by his power: who teaches like him?” Job 36:22. “how blessed is the one whom the Lord chooses to draw near to Him to dwell in His courts” Psalm 65.

When we don’t do what God wants us to do we can cause chaos for others. Just like Jonah when he ran away and didn’t go to Nineveh. The storm came and brought trouble to the others on the boat but as soon as Jonah was off the boat the storm passed. We want to obey the Lord and be a covering for our loved ones. They need you to stand by God and obey Him just as much as you. God is going to set us up to do what He wants us to do. He will allow chaos, like the storm to come in. He will use being swallowed by a giant fish to bring us to where He wants to take us even when we fight Him. Disobedience has consequences not fighting God and letting Him fight for you will have the best outcomes. No matter what God is gonna get us. He is gonna chase down our hearts!

He wins every time! In what way are you in the belly of the whale right now? In a dark place? God allows these things to happen to get a hold of us. And once He gets a hold of us He will pull us out of the darkness and thrust us out of the belly of the whale and into our destiny. He will thrust us into our purpose. He will send us to where we are meant to go. He will send us where He needs us and wants us and where we can be in our identity and purpose in Christ for Him.

So what is it that God is calling you to give up for his sake? What will you do when God says no to something? Will you give Him your heart? In the heart of every child of Christ cries ‘Lord I love you! I will give you anything and everything because you love me and give me infinitely more! Help me to let go where I am still holding on. I know what you have been asking of me. I have heard your voice. I have struggled to give it to you. Sometimes I tried to kill it instead. Help me to entrust the things of my heart to you. You are my Father and you care the most about my heart. The one who holds the stars in His hands holds my life in His hands! Yes this is the best place to be! In your hands Lord and not my own. Sometimes I have acted like Jonah and run away, but today is the day! Today is the day I say not my will but yours be done and I mean it. Thank you for helping me come to this place of surrender and trust and freedom. Thank you for helping me, thank you for your patience. Thank you for loving me and my heart. Thank you for freeing me. Thank you for your Helper the Holy Spirit, thank you for revelation to understand I was enslaving myself to something other than you and now I am so joyful to be free in you and satisfied by you only! You Lord are my treasure and my reward. There is nothing better nor anything I want more than you!

“Against You, and you only Lord, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You may be proved right when You speak and blameless when You judge. Surely I was brought forth in iniquity; I was sinful when my mother conceived me. Surely You desire truth in the inmost being; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow…Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from Your presence; take not Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, and sinners will return to You. The sacrifices God desires are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise” Psalm 51.

“Who may stand in the courts of the Lord? He who has clean hands and a pure heart. He who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood. Oh Lord, make me know your ways, teach me your paths, lead me in your truth. Humble me that I may be instructed as a man who fears the Lord. Make me know your covenant. Examine me and test my heart and mind, my inner most being Oh Lord, that I my walk in integrity. I shall seek you all the days. My heart, be strong, take courage and wait on the Lord” Psalms 25,26,27.

Our treasures are stored up in heaven for us; they are not here on earth. God doesn’t want us to hold on to anything of this world because he knows that it is empty and dust in the wind.

“Keep your lives free from the love of worldly treasure and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you” Hebrews 13:5. “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Store up for yourselves treasure in heaven. Jesus said, you are lacking, give away that which you value the most and you will have treasure in heaven. Come and follow me. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:19-21. “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” 1 Corinthians 15:58. “The Lord is exalted. He will be your stability all your life, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is treasure” Isaiah 33:6. “The reward of humility and the fear of the LORD Are riches, honor and life” Proverbs 22:4. ”The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, to turn away from the things that ensnare and lead to death“ Proverbs 14:27. ”But whatever was an asset to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and be found in Him” Phillipians 3:8.

God wants us to be in the world but be not of the world. Kinda a simple but difficult task for our flesh. That is, to live in the dominion of sin and be set apart and holy. And even though we are here in this temporary home, God loves us and wants us to have good lives.

“The thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. But I have come with the purpose to give life and give it abundantly. I am the good shepherd who lays his life down for his sheep” John 10:10. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32. “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your spiritual health grows and your soul is getting along well.” 3 john 1:2.

Giving our hearts to God is an act of spiritual worship to God and one of His ways of growing us spiritually. He longs to see us prosper in spiritual things, things not of this realm, things of real value. When we put this first, He brings the rest. Your heavenly Father knows what you need. “seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these hings will be added to you” Matthew 6:33. Instead of focusing on the earthly stuff, focus on the spiritual and let God provide! Our Father isn’t broke! With Him all things are possible and His ways are far above ours.

He will bring us home to Him if we follow after Him and trust Him. This world isn’t our final resting place. He is preparing us for our eternal home with him through the matters of our heart. To get to God, it takes a heart.

“For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands that will last forever” 2 Cor 5:1. “For here we do not have a lasting city, but we are seeking the city which is to come” Hebrews 13:14. “We know that we are of God, and that the whole world is under the power of the evil one” 1 John 5:19. “But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.” 2 Peter 3:13. “Father, I am not asking that You take my sheep out of the world, but that You keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. Make them holy by truth, Sanctify them by the truth; your truth” John 17:16. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am” John 14:1-3.